Pneumatic t



(No Model.) I J. B. MOGUNE. PNEUMATIC TIRE.

No. 456,771; Patenteai July :28, 1891,

liweiavr,

UNITED STATES PATENT Fries,

JOSEPH n'nccunnou EVERETT. MASSACHUSETTS.

PN E-uMA ic [1! RE.

SIEOIFIGAEIOI? forming part of Letters Patent No.456,'771, dated July 28, I891. I.

Application filed May 4, 1881. Serial m3. 891,516. (No man.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH B. MCCUNE, of

' accompanying drawings, is a specification,

like letters on, the drawings representing like parts. 4 I

My invention relates to a pneumatic or hollow inflatable tire for wheels of vehicles. Tires have been made for bicycles and other vehicles consisting of'a hollow flexible tube supported in the folly of the wheel and infiated with air under considerable pressure, so as to aiiford ahighly-elastic'snpport forthe wheel, and means are commonly prooided for forcing air into the said tubular tire'from time to time in order to maintain the same in the proper state of tension. Such tires are open to the. objection thaiif punctured so that theairescspes they collapse and thevehicle becomes substantially unridable, or if an attempt is made to use the vehicle with the tire in collapsed condition the latter becomes damaged, so as to make repairs very difficnlt and expensive.

The present invention isembodied in a tire composed of a flexible tube' having numerous transverse airtight partitions'by which it is divided into separate compartments, each of which is provided with a; suitable controlled inlet-passage, through which it may be inflated to give the proper airpressure and consequent elasticity, combined with an islflatin chamber, as hereinafter describedcommunieating with the said several compartments, whereby all said compartments may be inflatedsimultaneously and substantially nuiformly by forcing air into the said inflatingchafnber. Such construction has manyadvantages over the usual tubular pneumatic tire, the most important of which is that if the tire should be punctured at any point it will only permit the escape of air from the compartment in which the puncture is made, the rest of the tire being left in working condition, so that the vehicle may be used without seriousdciriment until the punctured compartment-can be repaired. The tire has greater elasticity for a; given interval, owing to the fact that when at portion of the tire 1s flattened or compressed by contact with the ground the air contained in afew of the compartments nearest the ground resists substantially the whole of the compression, and a much less reduction of volume of the airin said compartments is required to make its pressure sufficient to sustain the weight on the wheel than is the case when the'volume of air in the whole tire is compressed by the distortion or flattening of the wire at one point, as is usually the case. vFor this reason an equally elastic tire can be produced with much'less pressure of the confined air, so that there is less tendency to leakage. or rupture than is the case when the entire volume of inflating the several compartments of the tire uniformly, an inflating-chamber is provided" extending wholly around the tire and communicating with the irileenas eges to all the compartments, said infia'ii .g-cizamber being provided with any convenient means to receive an air-forcing apparatus by which air is compressed into it, so as to pass by its pressureinto the several compartments, the inlet-passages of which are-provided with checkvalves or equivalent devices by which theiair is permitted to enter the compartments when the pressu r'e is greater in the inflating-chamoeithan in the compartment, but is prevented from'again passing out oi the compartment,

except as it may escape through such slow 7 gradual leakage as may take place when air under substantial pressure is confined in this manner.

Figured is a. side elevation, partly in ion gitudiual section, ofa portion of a wheel-rim provided with a pneumatic. tire embodying this inveut ionz-Fig. 2, a transverse section thereof ou'line so c on a larger scale, and Fig. 3 a-longitudinal section showings modified construction of the tire.

The tire (1 consists of a iube,'preferahly cirr,

cular in cross-section and composed of yield ing or flexible air-tight material, such as commonly employed for tires of this kind, the interior or bore of said tube being pro.

videdfrom point to point with air-tight pan titions 0?, thus forming'a series of independ- I so ' the ground" 'Wl'ih an inlet-passage Z), so constructed as to into comp-a1 ively siiort compartments, so-

that in case one compartment should be disabled or fail to oontain air under sufficient pressure to keep it ,distended the two adjoining compartments will afford a substantial support for the wheel when the disabled compartment is in most direct contact with Each compartment is provided permit a tree inflow of air tothe compel-t ment and to prevent outflow, it being shown as provided with a flap-valve c, placed atthe inside of the compartment, so that it yields to permit air to enter the compartment, but is closed tightly over the inlet passage b by the air tending to leave; the compartment through. the said passage. Each compartment may thus be inflated or filled with air "under the desired pressure, and will retain said air under pressure without reference to the condition of pressure in. the remaining compartment,

, In order to afford convenient means for infiating all the compartments simultaneously and uniformly, an inflating-chamber c is provided, which extends along the entire length ofjthe tire aand communicates with all the inlet-passages b to the several compartnien ts! The said'in'flating-chamber is provided with w an inlet-passage d, which may have a check- -valve e, of any suitable cons'trnctiom-said passage at being adapted to receive thedischarge-pipe of any suitable or usual air-oompressing device by which air may be forced into the said inflating-chamber a, so that as soon as the pressure in the said inflatingohamberbecomes greater than that in any 'vzzompartmzmta it passes through the inletpassage 12 into said compartment, bringing the pressure therein up to that in the inflatingehamborc. As shown in this instance, the tire a isktastened in any suitable mannor in the telly or wl'ieel rim f, which has a longitudinal recess f to contain the inflating-chamber c, which practically constitn tes merely an lining for the said depression or f The said wheel-rim f f may be connected with the spokes of the Wheel in any suitable manner. After the air-compressing instrument is removed from the inlet passage d to the inflating-chamber c the valve 2) will close, maintaining the pressure in said chamber 0, which will contribute to the support of the tire a in the rim f; but there should be sufiioient bearing of the tire in the rim f outside of the inflatingchambcr c to afford a working support for the said tire li y-this construction, it the wall of the tire should become punctured in any one of the compartments, the air will be permitted to escape from the said compartment, and will also escape from th inflat fog-chamber by passing through the inletpassage of the punctured compartment;- but the remainingcompartments will retain the air under pressure and will afford a sufficient support to enable the wheel to be used without damage until the punctured compartment can be repaired.

Instead of making the tire of asingle continuouspiece of tubing provided with partitions, it may be made up of short sections of tube closed at each end, as shown in Fig. 3, so that when the said sections are cemented in place in the wheel-rim,and preferably also cemented together end to end, a tire will be formed substantially the same as the one shown in Fig. 1 and operating as has been described. When the tire is subjected to compression, as by contact with the ground, the compartments that happen to come upon the ground will be flattened, compressing the air thereinuntil its pressure is suiiicieut to prevent further flattening of the tire, and such pressure will bulge out the partitions at each end of the compartment, thus compressing the airin the adjacent compartments, but to a less extent, and the compressionin them in turn will cause a still less compression in the next compartment, so that the wheel is supported mainlyby the pressure of the air in a few compartments nearest the ground, and requires much less initial pressure to give sufficient support than is the'case when the flattening of the tire at one point is resisted only by the pressure of the air in the entire length of the tire. The herein described tire is thus more elficient and durable than those that have been heretofore used, even while the walls remain nnpunctured, and it has the further advantage that it may be punctured at one or more points without 'margarita-lly impairing its usefulness.

I claim- The combination, with a flexible tire composed of separate.hollowcompartments, each provided with an inlet-passage, of an inflating-chamber extending along the tire and communicating with the inlet-passages to all the said compartments, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my, name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH B. MoCUN E. Witnesses:

Joe. P. LIVERMORE, M. E. HILL. 

